CH 55

Chapter 55 – At The Time I Woke Up

When I woke up, I found myself in a church.

The battle had died down, there were no wounded or sick, and the supplies that had been so plentiful had been distributed to each family, so the room was deserted.

As I looked around, my eyes met with a familiar Elf girl. She looked somewhat frightened, bowed her head, and ran off somewhere.

“Myrril-san, Yoshua-san has woken up!”

…Who was that? She’s been taking care of me for a while, it seems.

It’s hard to tell the difference between Elves (with the exception of Kemich) because they are all beautiful in their own way. It’s hard to remember their names because the idea of exploding handsome men keeps interfering.

“You’re awake, Yoshua.”

A voice as clear as the sound of a bell. A smile that shines brightly. In the light shining through the skylight, Myrril was looking at me, holding a washbasin filled with towels.

This noja loli-san is a real angel.

I writhe quietly in my mind.

“Do you feel any pain? You’ve been asleep for two days now; you must be very tired.”

That’s right. I remember. I really thought I was going to die. I thought I would never see this angel again. And then I realized that I couldn’t live without her anymore.

“Ah, yeah. …Sorry for worrying you.”

“No, we’re sorry too. I didn’t think you’d run out of magic. I was under the impression that you were infinite.”

“That’s right. I didn’t know what my limits were.”

“No matter how reckless you were, you always seemed to be in good shape. That’s why.”

The tears fell from her eyes with a gentle smile on her face.

“I-I was scared. If Yoshua dies like that, I’m going to…!”

“Don’t worry; I won’t die. I’m not going to die and leave you behind.”

As I hugged the sobbing little body, I realized how far I had come.

When I was a company employee, death was just a meaningless symbol to me. I had never had anything in my life, so I had never regretted losing anything. I didn’t worry about what I would be left with.

I never felt lonely or empty about having nothing, but I think that was not because I was fulfilled, but because I had not lived a proper life.

After a while, Myrril wiped away her tears, looked up, and smiled at me cheerfully.

Yeah, Myrril’s a real angel… and I want to shag this fluffy hair as much as I can.

When I thought of this, my hands were moving on their own. The noja loli accepted it without showing any anger and made a small laugh as if tickled. This is not good. I can’t go any further. In many ways, I feel like I’ll never be able to stop.

I gently adjust her messy hair, and we look at each other. Everything will be okay.

No matter what happens.

“Are you okay to move? The three people you rescued want to thank you.”

“Yes, no problem. I’ll see them. I haven’t had a chance to talk to them yet.”

I got ready and met the people I had rescued on a bench in front of the church.

For some reason, Yadar and Minya were standing beside them, grinning. What are you girls doing?

“Oh, I heard you were very active, Yoshua.”

“It was tough. Especially Myrril, who was distraught and clinging to me…”

“I-I don’t know what you are talking about!”

“Yoshua-dono.”

A Beastman man stood up from the bench and asked for a handshake.

“I am sorry for the delay in greeting you. My name is Merel, and I run a small business for subhumans in the empire. I can’t thank you enough for saving my life.”

I was in a panic when I rescued them, so I don’t remember much, but I think they were people like this. There was a man and a woman who both had the look of foxes and a woman who was a Dwarf.

From the looks of it, all of them were around 30 or so. Their appearance and expressions were calm, and they seemed to have received a good amount of education.

“Really, thank you very much.”

“”Thank you very much.””

“No, I’m glad you’re all okay.”

According to the introduction, the Beastman woman was his wife, Harnell-san. The Dwarf woman was the maid, Mipha-san.

I don’t know why it’s so refreshing to have a Beastman master and a Dwarf servant. I don’t know if it’s prejudice, but I can imagine it if it was the other way around.

“So, why were you guys kidnapped again?”

“It seems to be because… apparently, I am the Demon King. My wife and Mipha are the puppets.”

“Huh?”

There’s a Demon King? I’m not sure what he means by “apparently.”

“Umu, if that’s the case, then the provisional Demon King, Yoshua, will be discarded before he ascends to the throne.”

“Shall I comfort him?”

“A consolation party.”

“Hey, you muscle-brained girls. Would you please stop talking about the position of the Demon King as if it is fixed? I’m not a Demon King. I’m just a merchant, okay?”

“Huh? What are you talking about, Yoshua?”

“In what world is there a merchant who can wipe out an army of 30,000?”

“If there is such a thing, it would be the Demon King.”

“…Gnunu.”

The three of them are already talking about having a “party to console the failure of the ascension.” Probably with my money. I’ll get it for you. It’s okay. I don’t feel comfortable with this. It’s like I was dumped when I didn’t even confess.

“Hey, Myrril, what is a Demon King anyway?”

“As the word suggests, it is the chief of the Demon race. Well, at least according to the people of the kingdom and the empire, that is.”

“Are there Demons?”

“Whether they exist or not is also up to their standards. At least in the kingdom and the empire, the term “Demon” refers to a subhuman who possesses magical powers.”

“Is that so?”

“That’s not possible. Almost all Elves, more than half of Dwarves, and one out of four Beastman have some degree of magical power. That means that Casemaian is full of Demons.”

…Hmm? I don’t know what’s going on here.

“So who decides who is the Demon King?”

“I don’t know. If you want to know the criteria, you can contact the empire.”

I tilted my head and looked at the Beastman man, Merel. He shook his head and smiled bitterly, but he remained calm and collected even with that look on his face. This guy is more “dignified” than handsome.

If they dressed up as a Shinto priest and a priestess, they would be perfect for each other.

“According to them, the Demon King is summoned from another world.”

“Have you been summoned from another world?”

“No, I don’t know anything about that. I was born in Casemaian and escaped with my parents to the empire.”

“So the Imperial Army was under a false pretense?”

“Yes. We fox people are genetically gifted with high magic power, so I think we were spotted. My trading company was doing reasonably well, so it might have just been convenient for them to confiscate my property.”

That’s awful. After taking all the money, he was treated like a Demon King and executed. It’s just like a witch trial. Maybe there was jealousy from the human merchants.

“In the first place, the Demon King has a cursed mark engraved somewhere on his body when he was summoned, and his true identity can be revealed by a mage’s spell.”

“Cough!”

“Hey!”

When I saw Myrril suddenly coughing, I gently turned away.

Hey, please stop it. You have to stop that kind of thing.

I lean closer to Myrril and whisper in her ear. Of course, there was nothing romantic about it.

“You’ve seen my body, haven’t you?”

“Oh, yeah. That’s the thing. I have to take care of you.”

“Did you see any marks or anything like that?”

“N-not at all?”

Stop it; you’re making it hard for me with your lame, gentle lies.

The moment it is said in one sentence, with eyes swimming and sweat pouring down, it is confirmed.

“Aaaaaahhhh… Seriously? Really? Where?”

“I definitely didn’t see it. But, on your left chest?”

“You even know where it is. Isn’t it already decided?”

I turned up my shirt-like overcoat and looked into it to find a blue-black mark. It’s too obvious, too large, and too designed to be a birthmark.

What is this? It’s nothing more than a cursed mark, isn’t it? I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything like it before when I changed clothes.

“Whether I’m a Demon King or not…”

“”””Demon King…”””” [T/n: They called him Maou-sama.]

“Stop! That’s not happening. I personally don’t have any power, I don’t know any Demons, and I’m generally not going to do it. You know?”

“…..”

Why does everyone seem to be unhappy? It’s not a joke. Do they want to turn Casemaian into a Demon King castle? I’m afraid they’re really going to do it.

“Anyway, what does a Demon King do? No, I don’t know if he’s a person or not.”

No one answered, so Merel-san answered for me.

“It is said that he commits horrible mass murder and destroys human countries. In the end, the story goes that he is destroyed by the heroes, but sometimes there is a powerful Demon King who can defeat the heroes, some say.”

Oh, I’m so confused.

That’s right; there was mass murder. Everyone did. But that’s because the enemy has invaded. The kingdom may be dying, but it’s a civil war. They got what they deserved, and please don’t assume that it’s my fault. I’m not to blame.

“But the only one who killed the hero was you, and you did it alone.”

“Myrril, can you please stop reading my mind? No, really.”

“It’s heart to heart, you idiot.”

The smug look on her face annoyed me, so I gave her a smile and hooked her nose. The nose is small and cute.

“I’ve heard that when the mark of the Demon King floats after completing the prescribed ordeal, his vicious familiar will appear to greet him. So it seems that they were in a hurry to deal with it.”

Hey, hey, Merel-san, the fox-faced trading company chairman, started to say something strange again.

“Familiars?”

What is that, a subordinate? A pet? I’ve got a really bad feeling about this…

“…It’s a fire-breathing, steel, magical beast.”